Cohen Klingenstein LLC Cuts Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 57.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,000 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 12,400 shares during the quarter. Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after buying an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after buying an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD opened at $280.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $292.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.75. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,704 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,428. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.39.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.